Kelowna-area candidates make final push before election day
BC NDP Leader David Eby said Tuesday that Conservatives have taken the region for granted, arguing they cannot assume voters will automatically support them.
As election day draws near, candidates in the Kelowna-Mission and Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream ridings are using their last opportunities to appeal to voters. In Kelowna-Mission, Conservative contender Gavin Dew aims to retain the riding for his party, emphasizing healthcare and public safety as key priorities. Dew has proposed opening the unused 33,000 square feet of space at Kelowna General Hospital and ensuring mandatory care at Okanagan Correctional Centre.
He is up against NDP candidate Miriam Rycroft, Green candidate Saoirse MacKinnon, and OneBC candidate Abraham Nordine.
BC NDP Leader David Eby cautioned that Conservatives have taken the region for granted, stating they must earn every vote in this area. Eby highlighted the need to work harder in the region, while Dew countered by criticizing the local NDP campaign's lack of presence in Kelowna. Rycroft's photo is notably absent from the NDP campaign website's candidate biographies, and a drive through the riding did not reveal any NDP election signs.
In Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream, NDP candidate Binny Boparai is looking to make gains in a riding traditionally dominated by the Conservatives. Boparai, a farmer and business owner, believes voters may be open to considering a different party. She identified the cost of living and job creation as critical priorities, arguing that stronger regional economic growth could tackle various concerns.
"If we have growth, economic growth in our region, that’s going to bring on good jobs and that solves a lot of the other underlying issues," she said.
Conservative candidate Pavneet Singh, also a business owner, highlighted homelessness and the economy as issues facing the riding. Singh proposed expanding natural resource development to create jobs and strengthen the provincial economy, emphasizing that "LNG will be double and triple by 2035, and we have resources." He urged voters to reject another term of NDP, stating, "British Columbia cannot afford one more term of NDP."
Green candidate Carter Mochinski and OneBC candidate Alexandra Wright are also in the running for the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding.
Written by urgent.news from Global News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
